# THAT's what that song is about?! D'oh! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691 "2008-09-08T22:16:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/1 "2008-09-08T22:16:00Z")
You know how you’ve grown up with a song and you “know” it, enough to sing or hum along, but you learned it too early to really think about it? The other day I’m listening to Scarborough Fair and coincidentally enough, tying a quilt as he sings “Tell her to make me a cambric shirt…without no seams nor needlework–” Waitaminute that’s impossible! Listened to the rest, yep, impossible tasks. :smack: And yes, I thought Every Breath You Take was a nice love song too. Others? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/2 "2008-09-08T22:29:53Z")
Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life” is really, really naughty, despite the happy-go-lucky sound. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/3 "2008-09-08T22:34:17Z")
It took me awhile to figure out what “Scarborough Fair” was about as well. I only got that earlier this year when I went looking for the lyrics. I don’t have any other examples of this for you, but I’ll think on it some. Since you brought it up, I wanted to pass on this great Youtube clip I found of Simon & Garfunkel appearing on (what I suppose is) the Andy Williams show. A wonderful performance. It’s almost as odd as the Bing Crosby/David Bowie pairing on “The Little Drummer Boy”. . .and, perhaps, even better in the result. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt4HZ7AKp1s) ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/4 "2008-09-08T22:36:36Z")
Although I was always aware that the Stones’ “Brown Sugar” was not exactly PC, up until a couple of years ago I thought it was just about a guy who fancies young black girls. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/5 "2008-09-08T22:41:23Z")
I showed my sister the lyrics to Warren Zevon’s Excitable Boy the other day. She siad she didn’t know what she was singing when she sang along but those lyrics certainly aren’t it. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/6 "2008-09-08T23:09:14Z")
ZZ Top’s “Pearl Necklace” and Andrew WK’s “It’s Time To Party” are both about pretty much the same thing. The former is a bit clever, the latter is pretty blunt and involves a group. I’d heard both songs many times before I figured them out. ZZ Top because I was young and Andrew WK because I just wasn’t listening carefully to some of the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/7 "2008-09-08T23:21:04Z")
“Invisible Touch” by Genesis is so freaking peppy that I never listened properly to the lyrics, but when I did I realized it’s not about the kind of relationship you want to have. > [@](#): > > She dont like losing, to her its still a game > > **And though she will mess up your life** , > > Youll want her just the same ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/8 "2008-09-09T01:37:40Z")
Styx’s “Light Up.” I was in my mid-twenties before that light bulb went on. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/9 "2008-09-09T01:40:06Z")
I didn’t realize until recently that Steely Dan’s **The Royal Scam** was about Puerto Rican immigration to NYC. But then, I don’t usually pay much attention to lyrics anyway… ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/10 "2008-09-09T01:43:45Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Since you brought it up, I wanted to pass on this great Youtube clip I found of Simon & Garfunkel appearing on (what I suppose is) the Andy Williams show. A wonderful performance. It’s almost as odd as the Bing Crosby/David Bowie pairing on “The Little Drummer Boy”. . .and, perhaps, even better in the result. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt4HZ7AKp1s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt4HZ7AKp1s) That was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/11 "2008-09-09T01:54:18Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > It took me awhile to figure out what “Scarborough Fair” was about as well. I only got that earlier this year when I went looking for the lyrics. I don’t have any other examples of this for you, but I’ll think on it some. > > Since you brought it up, I wanted to pass on this great Youtube clip I found of Simon & Garfunkel appearing on (what I suppose is) the Andy Williams show. A wonderful performance. It’s almost as odd as the Bing Crosby/David Bowie pairing on “The Little Drummer Boy”. . .and, perhaps, even better in the result. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt4HZ7AKp1s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt4HZ7AKp1s) Man, that takes me back. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/12 "2008-09-09T02:08:19Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > The other day I’m listening to Scarborough Fair and coincidentally enough, tying a quilt as he sings > > “Tell her to make me a cambric shirt…without no seams nor needlework–” > > Waitaminute that’s impossible! Listened to the rest, yep, impossible tasks. For those who only know the Simon & Garfunkel version - which is two songs, an abbreviated version of a 19th century-style Scarborough Faire and an original Simon composition, Canticle, hence the name that nobody ever gets right, “Scarborough Faire/Canticle,” here’s what Wiki has to say. > [@](#): > > The song tells the tale of a young man, who tells the listener to ask his former lover to perform for him a series of impossible tasks, such as making him a shirt without a seam and then washing it in a dry well, adding that if she completes these tasks he will take her back. Often the song is sung as a duet, with the woman then giving her lover a series of equally impossible tasks, promising to give him his seamless shirt once he has finished. As for Rolling Stones lyrics, I’ve been listening to them since 1965 and I still can’t figure out what they say, ever, in any song. Somebody needs to translate Mick into English. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/13 "2008-09-09T02:57:40Z")
\*\*Come Out and Play \*\*by The Offspring is actually about gang violence in schools. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJQFf0qj9Nk) ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/14 "2008-09-09T03:05:22Z")
I had always thought Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” was about a woman who had an inappropriate relationship with an underage man. Turns out it’s about her uncle who died young. Ooooookay. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/15 "2008-09-09T03:07:39Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > Although I was always aware that the Stones’ “Brown Sugar” was not exactly PC, up until a couple of years ago I thought it was just about a guy who fancies young black girls. Okay…now you tell me, cause i still think that! ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/16 "2008-09-09T03:08:03Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > Although I was always aware that the Stones’ “Brown Sugar” was not exactly PC, up until a couple of years ago I thought it was just about a guy who fancies young black girls. Similarily with me and the The Stranglers “Golden Brown.” Made more sense when I finally beheld tar heroin. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/17 "2008-09-09T03:41:06Z")
It’s an homage to the United States ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/18 "2008-09-09T03:52:44Z")
On wikipedia, someone edited the article to argue that the song “How to save a life” by the Fray was actually about the breakup of Czechoslovakia. he said: > [@](#): > > Other people have speculated that the song is actually about the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia. In many ways, the lyrics could be seen as Czech President Vaclav Havel’s attempts to reach out to Slovakian President Vladimír Mečiar, and their differing political views: “as he goes left, and you stay right.” The line “would have stayed up all night” refers to the Slovakian parliament’s decision to adopt the Declaration of independence of the Slovak nation on July 17, 1992, abruptly ending the ongoing negotiations: “Sit down, we need to talk.” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/19 "2008-09-09T03:54:16Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > It’s an homage to the United States Not even once, in the 60s, for twenty minutes. [I don’t think so.](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/duranduran/rio.html) And from Wiki: > [@](#): > > The song ‘Rio’ was inspired when Duran Duran toured Brazil and decided to write a song about their experiences there; however, the song references the Rio Grande which forms the border between Texas and Mexico (and is part of the names “Rio Grande do Norte” and “Rio Grande do Sul”, two Brazilian states)." ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691/20 "2008-09-09T04:07:07Z")
I didn’t know that Joni Mitchell’s _Little Green_ was about giving her child up for adoption or that _Troubled Child_ was about her own mental breakdown. It helps to know that she likes to address songs to herself in the second person. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-what-that-song-is-about-doh/462691.md?page=2)